


Stairway to Heaven

by Measured_Words



Category: Original Work
Genre: Archaeology, Caves, Esoteric Sex, Exploration, F/M, Gods, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Minor Injuries, Multi, Petroglyphs, magical healing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 19:39:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17628437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured_Words/pseuds/Measured_Words
Summary: Injured on a solo exploration, Rachelle seeks shelter in a mysterious cave and finds more that she'd bargained for.





	Stairway to Heaven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ruis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruis/gifts).



> So you managed to request 2/3 of the original work requests I prompted and I thought that deserved a treat! I hope you like it :3

It was always nice to get away, be on her own for a while. Not many people in Rachelle's life understood her desire to explore, certainly not on her own, but she was alright with that. The fewer offers to accompany her and 'give her something to do on the long lonely nights', the better. Besides which, most of those who offered to accompany her were men who invariably assumed they were greater experts in her own field, despite all the obvious clues to the contrary. No – she would not be making that mistake again.

She knew the risks she was taking, and she accepted them. Maybe she would fall to her death from some tall distant precipice, or be attacked and eaten by a boar, or drowned in a flash flood, or who knew what else could befall her. It would be worth it, Rachelle told those whose concerns she felt some desire to allay, to die doing something she loved. Most people she told nothing.

She wanted to see the world, to document and record it in all its strangeness and wonder. She wanted to feel a part of something more worthy, connected to the living earth and to those who had come before her to struggle for their lives against the overwhelming power of nature. That's why she loved most of all when she found evidence that other peoples had come to these same remote places to leave their marks in ages long past.

That was why it was with delight that she followed what she could only think of as a stair – worn rocks, evenly spaced and well secured – winding around the edge of the mountain, shadowing the river that coursed through the ravine below.

Some of the stones had been buried, or broken, or otherwise lost, but the trail was still clear enough to someone with Rachelle's practiced eye. She went as carefully as she could, marking her trail and using her climbing gear for extra security where it grew more precipitous. She was encouraged to see other traces of ancient peoples – carvings on the stones in styles she knew were centuries old, debris from old tools made themselves of stone or bronze, paintings in pigments ground from the earth's blood. Wherever this stairway led, it had always been somewhere special.

Pausing to catch her breath after an extended climb over some loose stones, Rachelle ran a hand over one of the nearby carvings, imaging the artist at work. The particular image she was resting beside was a set of concentric circles, one of the more common motifs she'd seen in the area. The other was a simple line, though these were sometimes found together, and some scholars had suggested that these were intended to be symbolically suggestive of male and female. Women weren't meant to read those articles, much like they weren't meant to go off exploring on their own.

Carrying on, she considered just what else they could be, or what about this area might call for such a proliferation of them, both singly and in various combinations. The scholars had never mentioned some of the combinations she was seeing – overlapping circles, crossed lines, and even combinations of three or more of these elements. Probably, she considered, they would have fainted if they thought about it too hard – men could have such delicate sensibilities.

Rachelle was amusing herself by imagining such a scenario. Distracted from her environment, she failed to notice that the next of the stone stairs had been undercut by a small stream flowing down the mountain's face. When she placed her weight on it, it slid, sending her sprawling. She tried to catch herself, but there was no purchase, and she landed hard on her arm on an outcrop several feet below.

Something snapped, and her arm was in agony even before she tried to move. She'd planned and prepped as best she could for these situations, but in the moment shock and adrenaline made it hard to focus. As the initial wave of panic subsided, however, she was able to take clearer stock of the situation: her arm might be broken, and she had come very far up the mountain. There was no shelter to be had where she was, but if this trail led anywhere, it might leave her in a better position. Very carefully, she used her knife to cut the strap on her pack so she could slip free without catching her injured limb. Her medical supplies were all packed in easy reach, but it was difficult to manage with only one free hand, and without jostling her injury too severely. It took some time, as she had to stop and mediate her pain and frustration with her need to go on. By the time she'd managed to secure, more or less, her arm in a sling, the sun was starting to dip towards the horizon.

It was awkward to carry her pack on a single shoulder, and having dealt with the more severe injury, she was coming to discover the extent of the minor ones. It was hard going, as she had to find a safe way back up to the trail, and pay even closer attention in the dimming light. Rachelle considered lighting her lantern, but that would leave her with no free hands, and she begged whatever power might be listening that she could find shelter before night fell. She chided herself for this – she didn't consider herself prone to superstition.

Still, it seemed that someone might have heard. She reached the end of the trail in less than an hour, and before the sun was fully set. There was a waterfall, water crashing down the rocks above to fill the river below. There was an even greater proliferation of art here, though she lacked the focus to appreciate it – what gripped her immediate attention was the cave.

It wasn't quite hidden behind the cascade, or at least it wasn't now. It peeked out of the rock just to one side, the entrance partly obscured by an ambitious sapling that clung to the stony trail. Rachelle didn't see any obvious sign that animals were making the place their home, and was grateful enough for the shelter that she decided to take her chances.

Once inside, she felt more relaxed, and safe. The sun was nearly set, and she scrambled, one handed, to extricate her lantern and matches from her pack. She worried vaguely about how tired she felt so suddenly, like maybe she was going into shock without recognizing the signs. But the fiery glow from the lamp was so cheerful, and her arm, stabilized in its sling, felt much better once she laid down and ceased to jostle it so much. A vague bodily restlessness teased at her senses, a tingling in whatever nerves connected to her core. It was the kind of thing she might well have taken care of before sleep if she wasn't so tired, and hurt. She felt hungry for…something. Not food, though she realized she hadn't eaten since before she'd injured her arm. Tomorrow though… for now, she needed rest.

The next thing Rachelle remembered, there was someone crouching across from her at a fire she didn't remember lighting. They were unkempt, with wild dark hair in thick ropes spilling down to their waist. Shadows from the fire flickered across their face, but it was still too dark for her to see much at all.

Rachelle sat up slowly, not sure what was happening, and not wanting to spook them away. "Hello?" English might not have been her first choice if she'd been less startled, but the stranger smiled nonetheless.

"Hello." The voice she heard seemed to echo though her. "Welcome."

"Welcome? Welcome where? What is this place? Who are you?" Maybe there was another way to reach the cave – a less precipitous trail up the other side of the river. There hadn't been any other sign of recent travellers for at least a day past, and even that had been cold.

"I am Asi. This is my place. Welcome." His smile was stunning.

"You live here?" She sat up, straining to see more in the dim light. Maybe this was some kind of hermit who'd found the cave like she had, and had been squatting here for years. Certainly Asi hadn't seen civilization in some time, if at all, judging by that hair, and the smell. It wasn't an unpleasant scent, more earthy and musky than other unwashed bodies she'd encountered, her own included, but it was noticeable. Like the voice, it somehow bypassed conscious thought and penetrated straight to her center.

"It's my place," he repeated. "Did you come to see me? No, you didn't. But you're hurt."

"I followed the trail." Her arm was still throbbing, and more so when he called attention to it. If it hadn't been for that, she'd have been convinced she was dreaming. She still considered it a possibility, though she rarely felt so lucid. "How did you get here?"

"I've always been here." He paused, looking into her eyes. His were a soft golden brown and she'd have sworn he saw straight into her soul, if she believed in souls. "It's very lonely. But I knew you would return."

A madman then. She didn't think he was dangerous, but she'd have to be very careful. "I'm sorry. I've never been here before, you must be confused."

"Not *you* you. People. They forget for a little while, but they always come back." There was a pause, where Rachelle wasn't sure what to say, and she was trapped in his eyes. They were beautiful, and strange, though she couldn't say how. "I can help you," he said, filling in the drawn-out silence.

"Me? Or…people?" She'd thought him wild and unkempt at first, but it must have just been the shock. Or something about the cave. His hair could use a good brushing, but it wasn't so bad. He didn't really smell, it was just earth in the cave, that was all. She still couldn't quite make out what he was wearing below the waist.

"Whoever comes here…. If I want to. And if they want it."

Rachelle smiled, though she was still on alert, and gestured to her sling. "Well unless you're a doctor, I'm not sure there's too much more you can do that I haven't. Or unless you have a stash of painkillers somewhere in this cave." 

"Doctor." Asi looked thoughtful. "Yes, I am a doctor."

Rachelle had doubts. "A medical doctor?" Never mind his age - she'd have wagered a great deal that Asi hadn't spent enough time inside a building to earn a degree, let alone a lecture hall or lab.

"Yes." He pointed at himself. "Medicines."

Something was definitely up, but she couldn't say what. Maybe his English wasn't really as good as it seemed, but she didn't think that was it. Despite the contradictions he presented, she didn't think he was lying – just maybe he didn't really understand. On the other hand, maybe she was judging too harshly, and she was in some dire straits. He was the only one around who could help her at all. She decided on a compromise. "Can you show me?" If he pulled out a handful of useless dried leaves, she could still decline.

"Yes." He smiled, rolling up into a proper crouch – he was wearing some kind of rough leather trousers, or leggings, maybe. No, trousers, and they hugged his body in a very flattering way as he shuffled over beside her.

He wanted to look at her arm – that was reasonable, although she still felt a flash of nerves. Asi was gentle though, and she barely felt it as he untied the sling. He curled his fingers around her own, gently coaxing her to unbend the arm. His touch was soothing somehow, and as she relaxed into his grip, the sharp stabbing pain from her injury did not return. When she flexed her fingers, everything felt fine. Asi was still close, still holding her hand, still smiling.

"Better?"

"That's not…how doctors work." It was amazing, but also frightening. How had he done that? She slipped out of his grasp to test her range of motion, but he didn't move any further back. This close, he definitely smelled more appealing. She'd expected his hands to be dirty and rough, but they were soft and warm… Now that she was no longer distracted by pain, her curiosity was piquing more and more.

"It's how it works here."

"Okay… but what is this place, Asi? Who are you?"

He shrugged, spreading his hands, and the light in the room seems to flare for a moment, the various symbols carved into the walls over time glowing softly. "My place. Home. People have always come here, but not for a long time."

She must be dreaming. There had to be another explanation. Drugs in the smoke from the fire? Her heart was racing, but that could have been the aftereffects of the pain, or just shock, or excitement… There didn't seem to be anything in the air save woodsmoke, and Asi was lucid, if strange. Maybe he'd drugged her before she'd woken? Or maybe not.

"You’re suggesting that you've lived here, in this cave, for …thousands of years?"

Asi nodded. "It's not the same for me. I just am… but I kept my faith in you."

A million questions ran through her mind – ways to test the assertion, try and catch him in the lie. But the one that spilled for her lips was simple. "Why?"

"Why stay here? Or why have faith?"

Both of those things – and why help her, to boot. Why the circles, the lines and spirals? Rachelle nodded, leaving him to choose how to answer.

"This is my place – sometimes more than just here, but always here. I am the voice of the earth, and here I speak. Ever since there was anyone to hear, I've been here. I've always been needed… I was needed. I believed I would be again. The earth said so…. Needed and forgotten and loved again." He seemed more relaxed than he had at first, sitting beside her cross-legged. "If you weren't looking for me, why did you come all the way here?"

"I'm an explorer. I was exploring. I don't think anyone has been out this way in a very long time."

"Then maybe you were looking for me." He nudged her with his shoulder. Had he always been that close? And…did she mind? His story was preposterous, but the symbols on the walls were still glowing, eerie and comforting all in one. The restlessness she'd felt the night before was returning, and Asi's proximity wasn’t helping. She could have moved, or asked him for some space, but did neither. Nothing else made sense, why should her own reactions?

"I followed the petroglyphs. What are they?"

Asi closed his eyes, and the glyphs' intensity increased. "Memories. They've helped sustain me."

"You remember all the people who've been here?"

"All the ones who called me. They don’t all." He smiled, those eyes piercing into her again, and Rachelle remembered her brief desperate plea after her fall. Had that counted? Had she summoned him? But he was still talking. "The ones who left their marks I remember best. Do you want to see?"

She could feel something teasing against the edge of her thoughts, and knew it was him. It had that same sense of power. It teased at her senses too, flirting but not forceful. For now, she shook her head.

"Asi… This is… It's all impossible. I don't believe in spirits, or fairies, or…gods. Whatever you are. It's not real. It's never been real. No one's ever shown any proof of such power and… I don't know how you can be here."

"I don't know about any of that. Maybe no one heard you before, or you never called on them, or maybe they're gone. But I'm here, like I have been." He lifted an eyebrow, and nudged her again. "How cruel, for me to spend so long believing in you, and you won't believe in me."

"I don't know what to do." Her mind was reeling with possibilities, good and bad. Would anyone believe her? What would happen if they did? Someone would try and study him – could they hurt him? Could they destroy him? Could he help people? What kind of wisdom might he have? Any at all? She still couldn't dismiss the possibility that she was just hallucinating, or dreaming…

He put a hand on her shoulder, and that same feeling of relaxation flowed through her. "Stay with me… make a memory. Take it with you when you go, and don't worry about the rest."

She knew what he meant. The old men hadn't been too far off, she figured, in their guesses about the marks. Whether that meant there'd been others like him, or if the symbolism was more widespread… wasn't something she was going to worry about now. She put her hand on top of his. If this was her imagination, or a dream, then fine. If not, what was the worst that could happen? It wouldn't be her first one night stand in her travels, and he wasn't asking to come with her, save as a memory. And if he was a god of some sort, even just a small one of this little cave shrine….well, the markings promised something memorable. "Alright," she said, and turned to face him.

The sound of the waterfall was muffled inside the cave, but when she kissed him, its roaring coursed through her, powerful, overwhelming, and enthralling. She was sitting above it with him, looking down as it wore its path down across the mountain's face, carving out the pool below. The watched together, and he took her in his arms, mouth on her neck hands on her breasts, cock inside her, filling her until she burst with pleasure, cresting like the river…

She was looking into the darkness of the back of the cave, Asi behind her. He kissed her neck, fingers rubbing against her clit, until she heard the echo of her own voice in the moaning of the wind echoing up from the depths of the earth.

The stars overhead were changing, the constellations shifting. Asi, with his mouth between her legs until all the stars she was seeing were new.

They were sitting together on soft green grass overlooking the valley. She was in Asi's lap, his cock buried inside her. Over his shoulder, down below, a herd of animals that hadn't walked the earth in millennia were charging down alongside the river, running from tiny figures. Their cries were hers, their thundering feet shaking the earth was her body shuddering hard against him.

A woman with wild hair and dark skin smiled at them. 'Show me the future,' she asked Asi in a tongue Rachelle had never heard. The woman looked at her in awe, her smile coy, eyes full of hope. "I want to remember,' she said. Rachelle wanted to remember the past. She was beautiful – shy, but ultimately shameless. 

Her heart pounded in unison with her clit, pleasure carving the impressions into her mind. Making memories. The floor of the cave should have been cold, but she felt warm all over, wholly relaxed as the present became fixed once more. She was naked, relaxed, pleasantly sore. Her cunt was dripping, her thighs soaked. Asi was beside her, stroking her stomach, radiantly beautiful in the fire's glow, sheen of sweat glistening on his skin. "Rest," he said, but her eyes were already drifting closed.

It was morning when she woke. Asi was…not gone, exactly. She could feel his presence all around her in the cave, and as she walked out to the entrance, watching the curtain of water cascade down over the cliff. The stairs were clear in the morning light – she could just make out the place where she'd slipped in the distance. Her arm felt fine, and other than the ache between her legs, all the minor pains from her years of travel and exploration were gone. The world felt new and full of mysteries, the people of the past as reachable as those of the present. 

What to do next, what or how to share about this, and with who, was a question that lingered in her mind. But she didn't have to decide now. She could think more, and live more, and then see. And return – she would be welcome. For now, she would carry her memories out into the world. 

Rachelle picked up a stone, looking for a clear patch of wall.


End file.
